Electronic Health Records and ObamaCare
Electronic Health Records and ObamaCare 'Incentives' President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (also known to some as ObamaCare) doesn’t directly address technology; however, it does offer incentives, which give preference to providers that have installed electronic health records. The majority of the ACA is centered on reforms in the health-care delivery system, such as increasing physician efficiency and improving care and outcomes for patients. The idea is to give doctors and hospitals new incentives to coordinate care, eliminate duplication of services, lower preventable medical errors and lower costs. This can’t be achieved without the implementation of technology, specifically EHR. With the ACA, the government is essentially saying that in order to realize the benefits or outcomes of these initiatives, providers need to have EHR technology in place, otherwise, it won’t work. 'Qualifying' The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs that are found in the ACA will provide EHR incentive payments to eligible professionals (EPs) and eligible hospitals as they adopt, implement, upgrade, or demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. Demonstrating meaningful use of certified EHRs takes time and resources. EPs and hospitals can receive financial support from the CMS Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. EPs can qualify for EHR incentive payments totaling as much as $44,000 through the Medicare EHR Incentive Program, or as much as $63,750 through the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. Through the EHR Incentive Programs, eligible hospitals, including critical access hospitals (CAHs), can qualify for EHR incentive payments totaling some $2 million or more. 'Meaningful Use' Meaningful use is using certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to: *Improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities *Engage patients and family *Improve care coordination, and population and public health *Maintain privacy and security of patient health information Ultimately, it is hoped that the meaningful use compliance will result in: *Better clinical outcomes * Improved population health outcomes *Increased transparency and efficiency *Empowered individuals *More robust research data on health systems Meaningful use sets specific objectives that eligible professionals (EPs) and hospitals must achieve to qualify for CMS’s Incentive Programs. These objectives will evolve over three stages over the next five years. 'Standards and Certification' ' ' As stated earlier, in order to meet the meaningful use criteria, EPs and hospitals must adopt certified EHR technology and use it to achieve specific objectives. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Certification Program provides a defined process to ensure that Electronic Health Record (EHR) technologies meet the adopted standards and certification criteria to help providers and hospitals achieve Meaningful Use (MU) objectives and measures established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In June 2010, ONC issued a final rule to establish a Temporary Certification Program for Health Information Technology for the purposes of testing and certifying EHRs. This final rule was specifically established to assure the availability of certified EHR technology prior to the date on which health care providers seeking the incentive payments would begin to report demonstrable meaningful use of certified EHR technology. The ONC HIT Certification Program became fully operational on October 4, 2012 and ONC continues to manage the overall program. ' ' In the ONC HIT Certification Program, certification and testing activities are performed by separate entities. Certification is conducted by ONC-Authorized Certification Bodies (ONC-ACBs) and testing is performed by Accredited Testing Laboratories (ATLs). Developers and Vendors first test their product with an ATL, and if their product meets the requirements, they work with an ONC-ACB to certify the product. Once the product is certified, it is submitted to ONC, who posts approved products to the Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL). The Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) provides the authoritative, comprehensive listing of certified Complete Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and EHR Module(s). The Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) continues to provide the authoritative, comprehensive listing of certified Complete EHRs and EHR Modules. Certification provides assurance to health care providers that the EHR technology they adopt satisfies the capabilities needed to participate in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) EHR Incentive Programs. Use of Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) is a core requirement for health care providers to become "meaningful users" and eligible for payment under the CMS EHR Incentive Programs. References: http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2012/06/21/health-care-technology-will-survive-if-obamacare-is-overturned/ http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/ehr-incentive-programs http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/how-attain-meaningful-use http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/certification-process-ehr-technologies